1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet post-process apparatus for post-processing sheets of paper ejected from an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, or a composite device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in an image forming apparatus, to post-process sheets of paper after image forming such as sorting or stapling sheets of paper, a sheet post-process apparatus may be installed in the neighborhood of the paper ejection unit of the image forming apparatus body. In such a sheet post-process apparatus, after waiting for ending of the sheet post-process of preceding sheets, the post-process of succeeding sheets is performed. To make the succeeding sheets ejected from the image forming apparatus body stand by like this, conventionally, in Japanese Patent Publication 6-99070 or Japanese Patent Application 11-322162, an apparatus installing a shifting path or a buffer path halfway the path toward the stapler is disclosed.
However, as in the conventional apparatus, when a shifting path or a buffer path is installed halfway the path toward the stapler, the length of the conveying path from the paper ejection unit of the image forming apparatus body to the stapler becomes longer, thus a problem arises that miniaturization of the apparatus is disturbed.
Therefore, a sheet post-process apparatus capable of shortening the distance from the paper ejection unit of the image forming apparatus to the processing mechanism for performing the post process and realizing miniaturization is desired.